One of Us
by sue-sylvester-shuffle
Summary: Unaware of Ciel's allergy to cats, butler Grell brings a basket of kittens to the Manor. When they go missing, it's up to him, Mey-Rin, Finny, and Bard to find them all before Sebastian finds out. Slight Finny/Mey-Rin and Sebastian/Grell.


One day in the Phantomhive Manor, Mey-Rin was dusting the steps outside while Finny sat on the grass beside her, pulling at weeds and chatting brightly.

"...and then, Sebastian said, 'What are you doing with that weedkiller?'" Finny said animatedly, beaming up at her. "I thought it was pesticide! I had sprayed it all over the flowers!"

"Oh, Finny." Mey-Rin replied distractedly, preoccupied by her cleaning. However, it was impossible to miss the note of amusement and admiration in her voice.

Just then, a voice called out, "Ooh, you two! Finny, Mey-Rin! Look what I found!"

Both servants turned around to see Grell, his mousy brown hair flying around his face in the wind. He was running toward them with a large, wicker basket in his arms. There was a blanket lying loosely over the top of it.

"Hello, Grell!" Finny greeted, as Grell came over to them. "What's in the basket?"

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it!" exclaimed the dark-haired butler. "I was walking back from the market, you know, getting groceries- and I found this basket on the side of the road. Look…" He peeled the blanket away, revealing eight small, fluffy kittens.

Finny's and Mey-Rin's eyes widened. "Oh… Grell…" began the maid apprehensively. "The young master is-"

"Oi! What's with the cats?" shouted a voice from behind them. Bard came down the steps two at a time and looked scathingly from the basket of kittens to the hapless Grell, who looked bewildered.

"What-? I thought the young master would like them!" Grell complained.

"He's allergic to 'em, ya dolt!" Bard exclaimed, his cigarette nearly falling out of his mouth as he raised his voice.

Grell's chartreuse-coloured eyes widened. "Oh, dear me! I had no idea!" His gloved hands shook. "Forgive me… I… I am so sorry!"

"That's okay, Grell." Finny said. He remembered how scary it had been when he first started working at the Phantomhive Manor, and how often he had messed up- and still did. "Go and get rid of the cats somewhere and everything will be alright."

"Finny, dear, you are so kind!" wailed Grell, dropping the basket and running to hug the young gardener.

As soon as the basket hit the ground, Mey-Rin and Bard both gasped. Before they could do anything, all eight kittens sped out from under the blanket as fast as they could, all heading in different directions.

"_Now _look what you've done!" Bard said loudly, throwing his arms into the air in exasperation.

Grell let go of Finny, who looked harassed. "Oh, dear me." Grell murmured, his eyes wide. "I-I'm so sorry!"

"We have to find them before Sebastian finds out, yes we do!" Mey-Rin told the other three servants, who all nodded, even Grell, who looked close to tears now. "If we all work together, we'll be done in no time!"

"Right!" Finny said brightly. "There were eight kitties, so each of us should go and find two!"

"Thank you all for agreeing to help…" Grell put in, a smile finally blossoming across his pallid face. "You're all so nice…"

"Quit blubberin' before I change my mind." muttered Bard.

xXx

"Kitty? Come here, kitty!"

Mey-Rin crawled through the grass on her hands and knees, hoping that her apron wouldn't get _too _stained with grass when she was finished. She scanned the bushes, hoping to catch a glimpse of cat fur.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something furry and yellow poking out from behind a bush. "Gotcha!" Mey-Rin muttered to herself, a grin spreading across her face. She crept slowly toward the kitten. It hadn't seemed to notice her. Once the maid reached it, she dove forward and grabbed the yellow thing with both hands.

There was a loud _crash, _followed by a screech of, "Oww!"

"Wha-"

"Oi, Mey-Rin, what the hell are you doin'?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bard, yes I am!" Mey-Rin apologized profusely, wringing her hands. "I saw your head poking around the bush, and I thought… I thought you were one of those kittens, what with your blonde hair and all… I'm sorry!"

"Eh, that's fine." Bard picked himself up off of the ground, brushing the dirt off of his clothes. "Any luck yet?"

"No…" Mey-Rin let out a sigh, staring down at her feet. "It's harder than I expected, yes it is… the manor is so big…"

"I haven't found any either." admitted Bard. "I wonder if Finny or Grell have had any luck?" All of a sudden, his blue eyes flooded with anger. "That Grell. Bringin' cats here to the manor- and, if that ain't bad enough, he has to go and lose 'em all, too. I oughta give 'im a piece of my mind!"

"Oh, don't do that." Mey-Rin pleaded. "He's new, yes he is! Remember how nervous we all were on our first day here?"

"I wasn't nervous."

"Fine, so you weren't. But I can tell that Grell is."

The cook rolled his eyes. "_Fine. _But this is all his fault."

"I know."

Just then, Bard's eyes widened. "Look… _there._" he whispered tensely, pointing behind Mey-Rin. She turned around slowly to see two small kittens tussling together in a patch of warm yellow flowers.

Mey-Rin glanced back at Bard. "Now?"

He nodded.

Carefully, the two servants tiptoed over to the kittens. The little animals didn't notice a thing, even as Bard and Mey-Rin shook back their sleeves and grabbed them.

"Yes!" exclaimed Mey-Rin triumphantly, holding one of the squirming kittens in her hands. "That's two, yes it is! Only six more!"

xXx

"What a nice cat…" Finny giggled, rubbing its fluffy face against his forehead. He was sitting in the grass with two of the eight kittens in his arms. Although he was terrified that his superhuman strength might end up hurting them, they were purring loudly, warm and soft against his skin. Finny loved animals, and they always seemed to love him too. Instead of him having to go look for them, they had sort of gravitated toward him. It hadn't taken him any time at all to find these two.

"Wow, you've found two already?" a voice from behind the young gardener asked. Finny glanced around to see Grell standing there, his hands empty and a discouraged look on his face.

"No luck, then?" Finny said, glancing up at the butler, unable to wipe the grin off of his face.

Grell shook his head. "No. I keep scaring them away…"

Finny laughed. When Grell looked sad, the gardener quickly added, "No, no, I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. Say, why don't we work together?"

"But you've already found your two."

Finny shrugged. "I don't mind helping. Besides, I bet I could find two more cats before you could find even one."

A smile spread across Grell's face. "Yes, I suppose that is probably true."

Finny got to his feet, still holding the two kittens. "Alright. Where should we- _oh!_" He was staring up into a nearby tree, his eyes wide. Grell turned to see what the gardener was looking at.

"Oh!" he exclaimed as well. "The poor dear!"

There was a fluffy, grey kitten sitting on a branch, high up in the tree. It looked lost, as if it didn't know how to get back down.

Finny went over and placed the two kittens he had into Grell's arms. "Here, hold them. I'm going up."

"Are you sure that's safe…?"

Too late. Finny had already started climbing, grabbing at close handholds and hoisting himself up into the high branches. Once he was level with the grey kitten, he scooped the scared animal into his lap and stroked it soothingly to calm it down.

"There you go." he murmured softly, leaning against the thick trunk. "I bet you don't know how you got up here, right? Well, that's okay. I'm gonna take you back down now, so don't worry!"

With his left arm, Finny held the kitten close to his chest. Slowly, he began to climb back down, using only his right hand.

"Careful!" Grell called up to the young, blonde gardener, his chartreuse-coloured eyes wide.

Finny reached the ground safely with a huge grin on his face. "Don't worry about me, Grell! I'm just fine!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" the butler said, handing the two kittens he was carrying back to Finny. "Here, they like you more. You should hold them."

"Okay!" exclaimed Finny excitedly, wrapping all three little cats into a big, warm hug. However, seeing the wistful look on Grell's face, he handed the little, grey kitten that he had just rescued back to Grell. "Here, you take this one. I think he's still scared."

"O-Oh." Grell stared down at the tiny kitten. "Alright. Thank you…"

"Well, we've got three now!" Finny said cheerfully. "I wonder where Mey-Rin and Bard are? Do you think they've found any?"

Grell shrugged. "Maybe…"

xXx

"C'mon… just a _bit _higher…"

"Dammit, I'm as high as I can go!"

Mey-Rin swayed back and forth dangerously on Bard's shoulders, trying to keep her hands on the tree branch above her so she didn't fall. Much like Finny and Grell, they had found a third kitten sitting in a tree. But neither Mey-Rin nor Bard was an agile climber like the little gardener- they'd both tried valiantly, and both ended up falling out of the tree- and getting up to the high branches of the tree was easier said than done.

Eventually, they'd resorted to Mey-Rin kneeling on Bard's shoulders to try and get up. However, they were still about a foot short. Bard was having a hard time holding the two kittens that they already had with Mey-Rin's weight pressing down on him, and with her apron draped over his face. And Mey-Rin's glasses were slipping off of her nose, further and further with each wild grab for the kitten that she made.

"I can't reach, no I can't!" she shrieked.

"Stand up!" she heard Bard call back.

"St-Stand _up?_ On your shoulders?"

"It's worth a try, isn't it?"

"I suppose…" Nervously, Mey-Rin got to her feet. Her legs wobbled dangerously, her boots digging into Bard's shoulders hard.

"Ow… _shit._" Bard muttered, wincing. "Maybe this isn't such a great idea…"

Mey-Rin didn't seem to hear him. "I can reach now, yes I can!" she exclaimed, and grabbed the kitten. "…Okay, got it… ah-"

One of her feet slipped, and, with a loud scream, Mey-Rin fell backward, clutching the kitten tightly in her arms.

"Mey-Rin!" shouted Bard.

The maid shut her eyes. However, just as she was about to hit the ground, she felt two small- but surprisingly strong- arms catch her. There was an array of gasps all around. When Mey-Rin finally dared to open her eyes, she found herself staring into the wide turquoise eyes of Finny. Shock exploded inside of her, and she found herself lost in the bright colour of his eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked the gardener.

"I… yes!" Mey-Rin breathed. "Th-Thank you, Finny!"

"No problem!" A wide smile spread across Finny's face. He helped Mey-Rin to her feet, where she stood, looking awestruck, the small kitten she'd rescued still wriggling in her hands. "And look, you got the cat that was up there, too. How many do you and Bard have now?"

"We've got three, includin' the one from the tree." Bard informed him, nodding toward the two that he was holding. "What about you guys?" He glared briefly at Grell when he said this.

"We have four!" chirped Finny cheerfully.

"Four?" Grell looked puzzled. "But… I thought we only had three?"

"I found another one on the way here!" said Finny. He held out four fluffy kittens, who looked perfectly content to be in his arms. "So if we have four, and you have three…"

"There's only one left, yes there is!" Mey-Rin finished, finally over the shock of falling off of Bard and being caught by Finny. "I wonder where it is?"

"There!" exclaimed Bard suddenly, pointing. The other three servants looked over to see a single, furry kitten rolling around in the grass a few yards away.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Grell breathed. "That'll be easy, won't it."

Finny nodded. "Come on… let's grab it!"

The four of them started forward, first tiptoeing stealthily, and then breaking into a run. "We'll catch it for sure if we all get it at once!" shouted Bard.  
Once they were close enough, all four of them dove at the kitten. Startled by all the noise, the kitten dashed away. Bard, Mey-Rin, Grell, and Finny all hit the ground with a _thud. _

"It-It's getting away, yes it is!" gasped Mey-Rin, reaching out her arms to try and grab it. However, she was held down by one of Bard's legs and Grell's head, and couldn't move.

All of a sudden, she heard a familiar, silky smooth voice. "My, my. What are _you _doing here?"

The four servants looked up, eyes wide, to see Sebastian pick up the kitten that had fled. He rubbed it gently, a rare look of admiration on his pallid face. "What a good cat you are."

"Sebastian, sir!" Finny cried out.

Sebastian looked over at the mound of useless servants just as the seven cats that Finny, Bard, and Mey-Rin had been carrying ran out from under them and swarmed Sebastian's feet.

"Bardroy? Finnian? Mey-Rin? Grell?" Sebastian asked, staring at them. "What is the meaning of this?"

"It's all my fault!" wailed Grell, looking up at the dark butler with teary eyes. "I-I'm so sorry! I had no idea that the young master was allergic to cats!"

Sebastian stared at them for a few moments longer, and then sighed. "I shall deal with these kittens. You four clean yourselves up."

"Yes, sir!" chorused Mey-Rin, Finny, and Bard. Grell just lay there, looking stunned.

"So… so _kind…_" he whispered, as Sebastian gathered up all eight kittens and strode off. "What a _gentleman…_"

The other three ignored him, and got to their feet. "That was fun!" said Finny.

"Fun?" Bard repeated incredulously. "_Fun?! _That was not _fun!_"

As the two of them fought aimlessly, Mey-Rin crouched down next to Grell. "Grell?" she said, snapping him out of his daydream about Sebastian.

"Y-Yes?" the brown-haired butler replied.

"Sorry to interrupt." Mey-Rin smiled warmly. "I just wanted to say… I think you're really one of us now, yes you are!"

"What?" Grell blinked uncomprehendingly.

"Well… I mean… now that you've messed up badly, and gotten people mad at you, and gotten all dirty…" Mey-Rin explained. "…you kind of understand what it's like now, here in the Phantomhive Manor. Does that make any sense?"

A smile spread across Grell's teary, pale face. "Yes." he answered. "Yes, it does."

end


End file.
